Entry: shiva (n.)
In context: "His own late obstetrician father had rended his own clothing in symbolic shiva in the Year of the Whopper..."
Definition:
Updated (thanks Daedalus):
Shiva (Hebrew: שבעה) (literally "seven") is the week-long mourning period in Judaism for first-degree relatives: father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, and spouse. The ritual is referred to as "sitting shiva." Immediately after burial, first-degree relatives assume the halakhic status of "avel" (Hebrew: אבל ; "mourner"). This state lasts for seven days, during which family members traditionally gather in one home (preferably the home of the deceased) and receive visitors. At the funeral, mourners traditionally rend an outer garment, a ritual known as keriah. This garment is worn throughout shiva.
Other:
SNOOT score: 1
Page: 301
Source: Oxford English Dictionary
Definitive Jest is a vocabulary-building and SNOOT-approved word-of-the-day blog centered around David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest.
This is almost certainly the second google/wikipedia entry, the mourning process in Judaism known as 'sitting shiva' (shiva = seven days), which involves the tearing of a garment to symbolize (in part) that one is not and should not be concerned about vanity during the mourning period.
ReplyDeleteJeez.
DeleteYeah, definitely correct. I'm going to update it - thank-you.
No problem! Happy to help.
DeleteThis blog is great, I wish it had been around when I read IJ a few years back...